Mannequins with their faces covered are displayed in a shop window in Mosul. Photo: AP

Fanatics from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have ordered shopkeepers in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul to cover the faces of mannequins on display in their stores.

The shop owners said the militants — who seized control of the city last month in their violent campaign to overthrow the Iraqi government — told them that their harsh version of Islamic sharia law forbids statues or artwork depicting the human form.

Photo: AP

ISIS, which declared an Islamic caliphate spanning parts of Iraq and Syria, imposed other restrictions in the city, the country’s second largest and home to some of the most ancient Christian communities in the Middle East

Christians have been ordered to convert to Islam and pay a tax — or face death. Many have fled north to Kurdish areas to escape the persecution.

Residents said there were about 5,000 Christians in the city before the takeover, compared with only about 200 now.

Also Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki rejected an attempt by Iran to persuade him to step down, senior Iraqi politicians said, underlining his determination to defy even his top ally to push for a third term in office, and further exacerbating the country’s political crisis.

Al-Maliki for weeks has been resisting growing pressure to step aside, including from former Shiite political allies and from Iraq’s top Shiite spiritual authority.

His rejection of the Iranian pressure puts Tehran in an unclear position, effectively giving the country the choice of relenting to his insistence on remaining in power, or increasing the heat on him to quit.